Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128349
Corser Joins Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra Francis Bana (left) and Tray Corser inked a deal that will see Corser ride the Alstare Suzuki GSX-Rl000 in next year's World Superbike Championship. o rm e r Superbike World Champion Troy Corser has signed to ride the new Suzuki GSXR I000 for Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra in 2005. Corser and Alstare Suzuk i team boss Franc is Batta inked the deal Saturday. October 30, and the Austral ian will make his first appearance for the team at th e Inte rnatio nal Moto rcycle Show at the NEC in Birmingham , UK next week. "I am re ally lookin g forward to riding the Alstare Suzuki and can't wait for the first te sts : ' Corser said. "The cu rre nt GSXRI000 has been good enough to win the British and American Superbike titles. so I know it is a good package . I am very excit ed about th is new cha llenge and I will be going all out for the title next season right from the start ." Kel Edge F th ing to receive ," West said upo n learni ng of winning the Roo kie of the Year Award. "I guess I'll have to get my tickets now." West started his career as an amateur flat track racer. He scored regiona l and National amateur titles as a flat tracker be fore moving on to road racing. w here he earned regional championships in WERA road racing. West earned his AMA Pro Racing license in Briefly•.• Continued #rom page 9 rider ever to earn a nom ination for the Athtete of the Year. Ward won the award in 1989 after winning the AMA 500cc Motocross Championship and being a member of that year's winning U.S. Motocross des Nations team. Ward, the Scottish-born racer who began his profess ional racing career in 1978. is launching his third racing career. After win ning seven AMA Motocross and Supe rcross titles, primarily in the 19805, Ward switched to ope n-w heel cars . He was named Indy 500 Rookie of the Year in 1997 and went on to have a successful stint in th e West Named AMA Superbike Rookie of the Year Co ry West. of Eure ka Springs, Arkansas, is the 2004 AMA 5uperbike Roo kie of the Year, according to AHA Pro Racing. West rode a private e r Suzuki GSX- RI000 bac ked by Bridges tone in the series th is year and sco red 15 top-20 finishes in the 18-race se ries . His best re sult came in the Dayto na 200 in March, where he finished 13th. "I had an invitation to go the [AMA Pro Racing Awards ] banquet in Las Vegas, but I wasn't going to go because I didn't have any- I 200 I at the age of 16. He raced in the AMA 250cc Grand Prix Series that year an d was ran ked 10t h at the end of the season. In 2002 . West con centrated on the Formula USA Series. where he finished fifth. In 200 3. with the help of Kenny Roberts, he raced in the Spanish nat io nal road racing series. He returned to AHA racing this year. "When I took 13th at Daytona. that was way above everyone's expectations and got ou r season of to a really good start." We st said. "My goal was to finish inside the top IS this year. I ran top-10 much of the year until I crashed and had a D NF at Laguna. Still, everything we nt rea llywell this year, and with a seaso n of Superbike under my belt, I'm ready to take anothe r step next year in the se ries . It AUTOGRAPH S IGN ING: At FairfieldCycle Center in Fairfield, California, on November 6. fro m I I a.m. to 3 p.m. Land-speed record holder Jimmy Odom and GNCC National Champion Rodney Smith are scheduled to attend . For more information. call 707/432-1660. NAM ED: Monu in Italy as the 2004 Organizer of the Year Award winner, by FGSport. the promoters of the World Superbike Champi onsh ip. "We hope that th is well -deserved success will be seen as reward for some of the inves tments and development already undertaken at the circu it," Paolo Flammini said. "We send our warmest cong ratulations to all the Monu staff and wish them the very best in 2005 ." Next year's round of the Superbike World Championship at Monza will be held May 6-8. RESIGN ED: Kerry Bryant. vice president of Jard ine Performance Products/Doug Thorley Headers. effective October 29. to pursue other busines s interests. West is planning to re turn to AMA Superbike in 2005 and hopes to earn a ride with a factory or factory-backed team. West now places his name alongs ide other AHA Superbi ke Roo kies of the Year. such as Steve Wise , Do ug C hand le r. Thomas Stevens. Scott Russell. Tommy Hayde n and Jamie Hacking. OPENED: Area P, an e ngineering. design , R&D, fabr ication and manu facturing facility in Anaheim . California. operated by Team Bryant . For more infor matio n. call 7 14/630-2386 or visit www.areapnolimits .com . S IGN ED: A deal that will see High Profile Public Relations . LLC as the public relations agency of record for supercross/motocross design and construction company Dirt Wurx USA. "I've worked w ith Pat Schutte for a number of years . He was successful during his time with PACE [now Clear Channel Entertainment] in working on a number of stories with us for both the mainstream and construction industry press." said Rich Winkler. president of Dirt Wurx USA. "Pat also has established a great rapport within the motocross community th rough his work with the National Promoters Group . Dirt Wurx USA is continuing to grow in both the professional and amateur tra ck design and construction areas, and we're looking to Pat's new company, HPPR. to take charge of guiding our publicity efforts." www.cyclenews.com Indy Racing League. In add ition to winning on e race and finishing as high as sixth in the finalseas o n standings. Ward had finishes of second (1999). th ird (1997) and fourth (2000) in the Indianapolis SOO. Even though he made a successful jum p to car racing, Ward neve r left his mot orcycle racing roots. He continued using mo toc ro ss and lat er supermoto as a training tool to maintain fitness and keep his racing refle xes sharp. The training regime n paid off, and Ward proved he'd lost no ne of his renowned spe ed and aggressiveness when he retu rned to AMA Pro Racing last year with the launch of th e AHA Supermoto Championship. He won thr ee rounds of the series in its inaugural seaso n. This year. Ward took over the lead of the AMA Supermoto Champi o nship after winning the seco nd round in Copper Mountain. Co lo rado. and has held the top spot in the series stan dings ever since , even though he has ridde n much of the seaso n with an injured leg. He needs o nly to finish fourth or be tter at th e LasVegas Supe nnoto A-Go Go on Novem be r I3, to secure his eighth AHA racing cham pionship. "I think supe rmoto has a great future and I'm glad to be a part of reviving the sport in America: ' Ward said. "This has been a great season for me and the Troy Lee Designs Hon da team. It wou ld be even be tter if we can take care of business in Las Vegas and win the cham pionship." T he 2004 AMA Pro Racing Speed Channel Ath lete of the Y will be ear announced at the 30th annual AMA Pro Racing Awards Banquet . to be held at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. o n Sunday. November 14. For mo re information on the banquet. call 614/856 -1900 . ext. 1232. Fas t SOs.co m has announced that World SI Supermoto com petitor Frederic Fiorentin o and Swedish and British Supermoto Champion Danny Muller will be jo ining the FastSOs.com team to ta ke part in the AMA Supermoto finale in Las Vegas, Nevada. No vemb er 12-13 . Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows has announced that The Ba ll of Steel Stunts (BO SS) will be featu red at this year 's shows . The BOSS show features three mo torcycle riders perform ing synchronized stu nts inside a giant steel globe. "We like to keep th ings fresh," said Jeff D'Entre rno nt, show director fo r the series. "BOSS has added elements to surprise last year's attendees and, for those w ho missed last year's program, it's better than eve r!" The Ball of Steel Stunt team will be tou ring 12 cities thro ugho ut the U.S. as part of the Cycle Wo rld International Moto rcycle Shows, prese nted by Toyo ta Trucks series. For more inform atio n, visit www.motorcycleshows.com. CY CLE NEWS . NOVEMBER 10, 2004 11